While the present invention is related in part to vehicles developed in the toy and hobby industry, there are many types of vehicles that use propellers as a source of lift or as a means for propulsion for which the present invention is applicable. The more common types of these vehicles, which use propellers as a source of propulsion or lift, are air/space based vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, or unconventional aircraft.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,312 is directed to a model helicopter that describes an improved fuselage with a structure that supports radio-control components, and drive train components in an attempt to provide a simple structure; U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,545 is directed to a rotary wing model aircraft that includes a power distribution system that efficiently distributes engine power to the rotary wings and tail rotor system; U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,131 is directed to a main propeller system for model helicopters, which are capable of surviving repeated crashes; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,075 is directed to a toy helicopter that includes a removable control unit, which a user may plug into the toy helicopter.
In addition, the ability to maintain a stable flight or hover is difficult to implement without the user constantly adjusting the speed of the propellers. A self-hovering vehicle would be capable of adjusting itself to a predetermined height above another a surface or object, even when the object changes the distance between itself and the hovering vehicle.